The Greatest

The calm suburban life of the well-situated Brewer family is unexpectedly turned upside down by the shocking death of the elder son Bennett. Father, mother, and younger brother try to cope with the sudden loss of a loved one each in his or her own way. Then the voluntary isolation of their parallel worlds is "disturbed” by Bennett’s new girlfriend. She is determined to find out more about the young man with whom she shared a brief but fervid romance. Without slipping into superficial sentimentality, debut director Shana Feste has shot an unexpectedly mature study about coping with pain. Her intense psychological investigation under the seemingly idyllic surface of a middle-class family was inspired by Robert Redford’s Oscar-winning drama Ordinary People. The superb Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan as the parents meet their acting match in one of the most talented contemporary actresses, Brit Carey Mulligan. –KVIFF